You may have heard by now that a noose was found INSIDE the National Museum of African American History and Culture, more affectionately know by Black people locally (in DC) as the Blacksonian.
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Somebody actually placed a noose, one of the most vile and explicit symbols of Americaโs remarkably racist history, insideย of a museum dedicated to the contributions, accomplishments, and achievements of Black people. Iโm not sure what kind of person you have to be in order to do this, but thereโs a special place in Hell for that them.
What makes it even worse is this: theyโre STILL doing timed-tickets for entry into the museum. Itโs entirely possible that this motherfucker has been waiting for MONTHS to do this shit, just itching with racism to get inside to place this noose there in the segregation exhibit. And in the oddest bit of irony, a noose hanging randomly in the museum is ALMOST an exhibit in itself as a display of this countryโs FUCKED up history and present when it comes to its minority communities. The actย is damn near living art.
Obviously, it was intended as a reminder that no matter how far weโve come and no matter how well we catalog and display just how important and vital to this country we are, some idiot - and Iโm assuming itโs a white person and Iโm entirely comfortable assuming this without proof, fuck your feelings, b - in 2017 can stroll right into this nice public space and piss all over it. Boy, those white folks are really taking it personal that their losing their symbols of racism, even though thereโs a very prominent statue of a Confederate racist named Albert Pike STILL chilling like a motherfucker at Judiciary Square in DC. Why not just go sit under that statue and tell racist tales?
To be clear, Iโm not surprised by this at all. In fact, Iโm surprised itโs taken this long - the museum opened in September 2016 - for something so brazen to happen. Iโve been expecting to wake up to news of NIGGER being spray-painted on the buildingโs facade. When the Peace Ball happened during inauguration weekend, I was also surprised that something overtly racist in nature didnโt happen. While Iโm not surprised, though, this type of shit is obviously sick and twisted. Just a few yards away and a few days earlier, a noose was found hanging from a magnolia tree near the Hirshorn Museum. To mis-quote Camโron playing Rico in Paid in Full, โniggas get racismโd everyday, b.โ True as it is, it doesnโt make it any less jarring.
Living in DC and really only venturing to โWashingtonโ for work means that I remain largely insulated from the out of town racists proudly rocking their โMake America Great Againโ hats and leering at the vast majority of people of color they must encounter at gift shops and counters across this city and area where tourists gather. But I know theyโre out there, lurking, seething, carrying around nooses looking for opportunities to try to kill the spirit of people whoโve come too far to go backwards. I realize that placing a noose anywhere is scary because it implies thereโs a threat thatโs present. And if thereโs a threat, who knows how itโs going to manifest itself. That young Bowie State University student who was killed in College Park, MD, is proof of that. And there's Lebron's house in LA, too.
I donโt know what any of this means and if Iโm being honest, I donโt think it means much of anything. There are racists in our midst. Thatโs always been the case and always will be. And in some instances, some of those racists are willing to go the extra mile to try to make a point. Two nooses a few days apart in DC is something because it happened on Smithsonian grounds where throngs of kids on field trips and out of town trips to the nation's capital stand in line with grandmother's and baby strollers taking in the nation's history. But one or two monkeys donโt stop no show. If anything, this type of shit just proves why we must keep fighting the good fight and stomping mudholes into the agenda of racists and pushing them further and further to the fringe.
Now if only we could get 45 outta here.
Straight From
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